Twilio snaps up SendGrid in $2bn deal

Twilio has announced the $2bn acquisition of email API platform SendGrid.

The all-stock deal is expected to go through in the first half of next year, and will help "fuel the future of communications", according to Twilio.

The newly-combined entity will have over 100,000 customers worldwide, and help serve millions of developers in a variety of industries.

Twilio says that the deal will add "tremendous value" to its customer offering, allowing it to provide a single platform for users to manage all their main communication channels, whether that be voice, messaging, video or email.

“Increasingly, our customers are asking us to solve all of their strategic communications challenges - regardless of channel. Email is a vital communications channel for companies around the world, and so it was important to us to include this capability in our platform," said Jeff Lawson, Twilio's co-founder and chief executive officer.

"The two companies share the same vision, the same model, and the same values. We believe this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bring together the two leading developer-focused communications platforms to create the unquestioned platform of choice for all companies looking to transform their customer engagement.”

SendGrid, which processes over 45 billion emails a month for online and mobile customers, will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Twilio following the deal, which the company's head hailed as "a tremendous day".

“Our two companies have always shared a common goal - to create powerful communications experiences for businesses by enabling developers to easily embed communications into the software they are building," said Sameer Dholakia, SendGrid CEO. "Our mission is to help our customers deliver communications that drive engagement and growth, and this combination will allow us to accelerate that mission for our customers.”